A few bicycle questions...

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been thinking lately about buying a bicycle for exercise/fun purposes, but I’m a pretty big guy, around 260 lbs, and I’m wondering if the bike’s pedals can stand the weight, especially when I come up off the seat and put all my weight on them trying to get up inclines.

I’ve also been wondering about the best type of bicycle to get. I live in a suburban area that is fairly sedate and will be riding mostly on city streets and sidewalks around the park and so forth, and with what I would think would be a normal number of inclines and hills. There’s a Walmart nearby that has bicycles for amazingly cheap prices, with some adult mountain bikes going for as little as $79. As it is now though I’m leaning toward either an old style single-speed cruiser or a 24-speed comfort bike (both around $150, with free assembly), mainly for the upright riding stance and larger saddle. However, I’m thinking that the cruiser may be unnecesarily heavy, especially going uphill, and I don’t like the idea of all the shifting and the lack of fenders (water spray) that would come with the comfort bike.

Of course I could go into town and visit some bike shops, but most of the ones I’ve heard good things about are way on other other side of town and at opposite ends and I could wind up having to drive 100 to 150 miles round trip just visiting them, and then at least 60 to 80 miles round trip everytime I need an adjustment or have some other issue. So I’m thinking about just buying one of the Walmart bikes and taking it from there, but the trade-off is I don’t have anyone to ask for advice.

Thirdly, I’m wondering about traffic safety and theft. I haven’t ridden a bicycle since I was a kid and obviously a lot has changed since then. Pickup trucks are ubiquitous these days, which I would think would make bicycle theft pretty quick and easy; and drivers these days, at least where I live, seem much more aggressive and belligerent than in my memory of them as a child, where I used to ride for miles and miles and never had a problem.

So I thought I’d ask here. What type of bicycle would you recommend based on my weight and riding conditions (and would the pedals hold), do you think traffic would be an issue and I should stay on bike paths, and do you think I could leave one parked outside a Walmart or grocery store for fifteen or twenty minutes without a fairly good chance of a couple of guys just cutting the cable and tossing it in the back of their pickup truck and driving off with it?

So, any advice would be appreciated. What do you think?

2

I’m going to punt on the first part of your post. I have an opinion about what type of bike you should buy, whether you should go to a bike shop, etc., but there are people far more knowledgeable about these things than me. I think the important thing is you are so happy and comfortable with the bike you buy, that you actually ride it. I will say this: if you are just going to buy some cheap thing from Wal-Mart, check craigslist first. Better bike for the money. Might be stolen though.

So… what am I going to post about? Bike locks. Get a freaking U-lock. Yes, you have to get the super-dooper U-lock to be confident in your bike’s safety, but cable locks are garbage. Cable locks exist to keep the church pianist from stealing your bicycle. They are useless against anyone else.

3

WalMart bike bad. It won’t stand up to someone of average weight let alone your weight.

It will come in one size-not yours. Fit is critical.

It will be put together by a high school kid working part time who barely knows which end of a wrench to use.

Get a brand name bike, you won’t regret it.

Mountain bike or utility bike will work for around town or shorter trips though I have ridden metric centuries on a mountain bike without problems.

You want gears, lots of 'em. Unless you’re very strong and fit, your knees won’t be able to handle the load.

A wide seat is not better. You want the padding of the seat to match your sit bones. Your butt still needs to break in.

A heavy duty cable lock should work. If theft is a real problem, combine with a U-lock. Each requires a different inconveniently large, unwieldy tool to defeat. Unlikely a thief will have both.

Helmet, Hi-Viz shirt (Alert Shirts), gloves, lights.

4

Lots of good information already. Thanks guys. As it happens I didn’t even know what a U-lock was. I’ve just been harkening back to my 12-year-old bike riding days and figuring I’d take it from there. Fit? Whoever heard of such a thing? Just grab a bike that looks comfortable and hop on has been my idea. :smiley:

Thanks for the info on the seat and gears (and riding gear) too. I assumed the wide, heavily springed seat would be more comforable, and one of the reasons I’m thinking of taking up bike riding is to strengthen my legs. I don’t seem able to bound up steps or even out of a chair like I used to, and my knees have been giving me a little trouble lately, so it looks like the single-speed would have been a bad idea.

5

Craigslist looks good too. Lots of bikes there, though I lack the savvy to know whether they’re in good shape or not in terms of gears and things.

6

If you don’t know what to look for , stay away from Craigslist, garage sales, etc.

7

There’s a lot of threads here on people asking for advice on buying bikes. You oughta be able to find them if you search.

But pretty much they come down to the same thing - if you are serious about riding, spend some time and money finding a real bike. Go to a bike store, have them fit you, and get a decent bike. It can be used, and you oughta be able to find something good in the $300-$400 range.

Just picking up a bike from a non-bike store means it won’t be fit to you, you’ll have to adjust it yourself which most people don’t know how to do, and they’re generally low-quality bikes. Believe me, unless you’re talking about riding for 20 minutes every other Sunday, you want a comfortable bike. Even with a well-fitted good bike, getting used to riding involves a sore butt, sore wrists, and sore legs. With a good bike, those go away after a few rides. With a bad bike or one that’s not fitted properly, they last forever, and other bits get sore.

Semi-related anecdote: I once rented a bike while on vacation. Hubby and I rode 35 really easy miles, basically spent a day touring the countryside. The bike was a very high quality bike, but they didn’t take the time to fit it correctly, and it had a very skinny man’s seat. I can’t tell you the pain I was in by the end of the day - I literally couldn’t put my butt on the seat it hurt so bad, and that started a good 1.5 hours from the end of the ride. I couldn’t walk for 2 days. It was horrible.

8

It sounds like a hybrid would be ideal for you at this time. My brother got a Giant Hybrid last year that was on sale for around $350. I recommend you visit the bike shop. Most bike forums have a sticky telling you to avoid Walmart.

9

SA, think about this for a minute.

You’re a big guy, and you’re justifiably concerned about the safety of a bicycle for someone your size.

But then you’re more concerned about getting a cheap bicycle than a good one.

Have you looked at the welds on a Walmart bike? Those things are cheap crap that have a record of falling apart under kids, much less a big guy like you. As far as Craigslist or garage sales or etc. - you say yourself you don’t know enough about bikes to recognize what is or isn’t good.

Just go to the damn bike shop. Yes, it will be more expensive. But you will end up with a bike that actually fits you (which is critical, especially if you have knee issues - TELL THEM ABOUT THE KNEE PROBLEMS) and one that will bear your weight safely. I’ve known guys as big as you that rode hard on trails without any problem - but they had REAL bikes, not big-box-store garbage.

Ask the bike store about used bikes. A lot of them take trade-ins as people upgrade, and you can get some great deals if they have anything your size. And you’re in luck in one area - all the big guys I know ride the lowest-end (good) frame and components they can get. The cheap stuff is heavy (which means unpopular in the hardcore crowd, which is why they’re cheap), but they’re a lot sturdier than the high-end, ultra-light stuff.

I’m a big fan of cheap - I’ll buy knockoffs, house brands, you name it. But not when cheap will mean risking my life and limb - it’s just not worth it.

10

Oh please.

At my biggest and baddest I was 268, and I rode on walmart bikes. It’s not like you’re going to bend the freakin’ frame!

Now, I’m 55 pounds lighter than that now. I also have a better quality bike, but the one I have now still only set me back $600. I’m personally of the opinion that if you spend anywhere near a thousand dollars or more on a bike, you have to be doing 40k+ rides to justify it. Of course, it’s your money. When I was that weight, I was happy to do a ride that was 9km round trip. Any dinky little piece of crap with a few adjustments will do.

I’ve just seen too many people buy a ridiculously high end touring bike, ride it 3-4 times, and then stuff it in the garage next to patio furniture to collect rust. My two cents.

11

Not the frame, all the other parts.
The head coach I work with bought two bikes from Wal Mart for our injured kids(cross country/track) to ride while they heal.

Less than 500 miles on each and they’re falling apart, bearings going, spokes loosening constantly, brake pads worn out within a few weeks, chains stretched.

12

I used to think that until I rented a bike that was in the $1500 range. Holy Mother of Og, was that a revelation. It was like I was flying! Suddenly I figured out why every time I went on a ride with other people I was the slowest one and the one in the most pain at the end of a ride.

And that’s actually a good thought - for anyone unsure of what level of bike is good for them, go rent a few. Most bike shops have rentals, and you can get a good feel for a bike if you take it out for a few hours.

IMO, truly high-end bikes are in the $3K-$4K range (or more). < $1k is low end, but can be very good and probably perfectly adequate for most riders. $1k-$3K is around mid-level and more than adequate for 99% of the people out there.

13

Sure, I can accept that. Of course, as to the “flying” bit…if this is part of a fitness regiment, it might not be a bad idea to keep the mountain bike tires on whatever bike the OP gets. It’s inefficient, and forces you to pedal harder for the same speed!

14

As I mentioned in one of the other threads on here, I swapped out the metal casings on my pedals for a full set of bearings; yes, walmart cheaps out on these. I also got road tires instead of mountain bike ones, make it run faster. IME, I had no problems with the brakes or chains, and the odometer I have says I logged close to 1500km on them. $199.99 at Sportscheck, back when the Canadian dollar was well below parity!

Let me be clear: I’m not arguing that you should buy the cheapest bike imaginable. Far from it. But judging by the OP’s description sounding pretty similar to mine once upon a time, I wonder if the difference between a walmart cycle and a $2500 Italian roadster with 150psi in the tires justifies the cost discrepancy.

15

I’m of the opinion that if it’s fun, you’ll do it more often, therefore comfort, fun-factor, and general enjoyment mean more than just about anything. The difference in fitness and calorie burn between going out for 30 minutes at medium effort versus 30 minutes at really hard effort is really not all that much. On the other hand, the difference between sitting on your butt in front of the TV because that’s way more fun than even a 30 minute easy ride is huge.

16

Yeah, but that’s not what anyone’s arguing; we’re saying go to a bike shop and buy a used quality bike that’s fitted to you for $300-$400 instead of spending $79 at WalMart for something that probably doesn’t fit you, might break down, and is generally not a bike meant for serious riding.

17

I would never recommend a $2500 bike for anyone. That’s a choice for an experienced cyclist to make for themselves.

A quality bike in the $400-700(or cheaper used as Athena pointed out) will be plenty durable and give good performance.

The main difference in the component levels is weight/materials, the reliability is about the same.
Also, performance is slightly smoother/more efficient at the higher levels.

18

None of us are talking about spending thousands of dollars on a bicycle in this circumstance.

BUT, the value difference between $100 at ToysRUs and $400 at the bikestore is HUGE and well worth the price difference.

I have a $2500 bicycle (or it was when I bought it new, don’t know what current prices are). It’s a ten-year-old tandem mountain bike. We rode the hell out of it for several years.

But if you’re thinking of buying a bike at that level, then you ought to know what you’re doing or you’re just going to waste money.

OTOH, I think I paid $250 for my single MTB at the bikestore (got a great deal, it was a custom order that fell through & they needed to get rid of it). I paid $150 for the used MTB I got from the bikestore before that. My road bike was $100 from a garage sale - but I have a gearhead for a partner who checks over anything I buy.

Partner has paid up to I think $400 for a bike, when it was a great deal from an individual. His last bike was $25 from a garage sale.

I’ve also bought a couple of Walmart/Target/ToysRUs bikes for kids that were going to outgrow them almost immediately. Because the gearhead partner can spot the ones that have bad welds and dangerous frame design, can put them together, and can fix whatever the factory screwed up. If I had to do it on my own, I wouldn’t purchase those bikes; I don’t know enough.

Even with a gearhead mechanic handy, those bikes are much more difficult, uncomfortable, and unpleasant to ride. They also require much more tinkering and maintenance to keep running well.

19

This.

Crappy Wal-Mart bikes are not just put together by some teenager who can’t remember “righty-tighty, loose-lefty”, but the lower-end bikes also often have crappy frames. If you’re worried about pedals supporting your weight, you won’t want a cheapo frame - the welds really suck. I’ve seen a Crappy Tire* bike with the top tube snapped off at the front weld.

A bike store can get you a decent, entry-level bike and make sure it’s fitted properly to you. A lot of bike shops also sell used bikes, so you may get a deal.

If you’ll be on bike paths and roadways, a hybrid “commuter bike” will suit you pretty well. It has larger diameter wheels (like a road bike) for a smoother, easy road ride, but you get to have fatter tires than the skinny road bike tires, a fairly upright posture, and long straight kind of handlebars that are good for balance and visibility.

Mountain bikes are great for balance too, but with their generally smaller wheel diameter and weight (shocks are heavy) it can take a bit more energy to pedal which is unnecessary if you’re just bootin’ around town. It would still be an okay alternative and an take a fair bit of punishment.

*Crappy Tire = Canadian chain started out like a giant hardware store, now it’s a bit more WalMart-like.

20

I can give you lots of relevant advice, except that most of it has already been provided, however I did come here to mention that there has to be some sort of irony here that a poster with the handle Starving Artist weights in at 250 pounds